The Huskies started their first session of spring practices under new coach Steve Sarkisian on Tuesday. Senior defensive end Daniel Te'o-Nesheim will be counted on to provide leadership to the defense under coordinator Nick Holt. A three year starter, Te'o-Nesheim has the talent and experience to lead the unit as he has garnered honors throughout his careers, including Pac-10 Honorable Mention in 2006 and team defensive MVP in 2007. Always a man of few words, he has let his play do the talking so far in his career. GoHuskies.com caught up with Te'o-Nesheim, to talk about spring football and the adjustment to a new coaching staff.

Q: How prepared is the team for Spring to get started?Daniel Te'o-Nesheim: We've been working hard, so we will see how spring ball goes.

Q: How have the early mornings been? DTN: Four days a week. Early, early in the morning. It's a little different but a lot of guys are sleeping in the locker room. It's nice to see. If you can't sleep and you have that six o'clock workout, the smart thing to do is sleep in the locker room. I've done it a lot and I know that other guys have too.

Q: Does anyone miss morning practices and what are the repercussions? DTN: We had a couple at first but that stopped pretty fast. You just pretty much go through hell [if you miss] and I didn't want to do it.

Q: How strange has it been not to have Randy Hart around? DTN: Oh gosh, I saw him every day when he was here. It's been different but these guys have been around all the time so there's always someone up there to keep you company and watch film with you.

Q: What do you think about having fans at practices? DTN: I don't know yet. That will be cool. I hope the fans enjoy it. It's going to be new for us but, I mean, it's just going to be practice, so we'll see.